How Do Secondary Conditions Affect VA Disability Benefits?

A veteran’s military service may have caused them to develop a medical or mental health condition or suffer a disabling injury. However, these conditions or injuries can also cause or aggravate a veteran’s other health conditions. But how do these “secondary conditions” – conditions caused or aggravated by a service-connected condition – affect a veteran’s VA disability benefits?

Understanding Secondary Conditions 

A secondary condition refers to a medical or mental health condition caused or aggravated (worsened) by another service-connected condition. A primary service-connected condition can cause a veteran to develop other disabling health conditions, or it can exacerbate a pre-existing condition that a veteran initially developed independently of their military service. Common examples of secondary conditions include:

• Service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder that causes sleep apnea
• Scars from severe burns suffered during service that cause anxiety or depression
• Service-connected respiratory injuries that worsen pre-existing asthma

Although secondary conditions differ from primary conditions because a secondary condition requires another service-connected condition to create a link between the secondary condition and the veteran’s military service, the VA rates secondary conditions the same as primary conditions.. 

Why Secondary Conditions Matter for VA Benefits

Secondary conditions can significantly increase a veteran’s disability benefits. When a veteran has a secondary condition, they can obtain a combined disability rating that incorporates the ratings of both their primary and secondary conditions. Some combined disability ratings may qualify veterans for other programs that offer increased benefits, such as Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability. Secondary conditions also recognize the fact that primary service-connected conditions can have a ripple effect on a veteran’s overall health, causing or aggravating other physical or mental conditions. 

How the VA Rates Secondary Conditions

Like primary conditions, the VA assigns a disability rating between 0 and 100 percent (by factors of ten) to secondary conditions based on the evaluation criteria in the VA’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities. However, when a veteran has a secondary condition, the VA must determine a combined disability rating that includes the veteran’s primary and secondary conditions. Rather than adding up the disability ratings of each condition, the VA uses a table in the VASRD to calculate combined ratings. The VA considers the veteran’s two conditions (or the two highest-rated conditions if a veteran has three or more conditions) and uses the chart to determine the combined disability rating, rounding to the nearest ten. For example, when a veteran has conditions rated at 60 and 30 percent, the combined ratings table assigns a rating of 72, which the VA rounds to 70. However, suppose the veteran had a third condition rated at 20 percent. In that case, the VA would use the first combined rating of 72 and the third rating of 20 to find a combined rating of 78, which the VA rounds up to 80.

Common Challenges in Claiming Secondary Conditions

Difficulties that veterans face in pursuing VA disability benefits claims for secondary conditions include:

• Challenges in gathering sufficient medical evidence to link the secondary condition with a primary service-connected condition
• Overlapping symptoms between conditions that can make it difficult for the VA to assign accurate disability ratings
• Complex administrative procedures to reopen benefits applications to add secondary conditions after getting approved for a primary condition

How to Strengthen a Secondary Condition Claim

Veterans can improve their chances of getting a secondary condition approved for VA disability benefits by:

• Gathering medical records and obtaining nexus letters that document the link between the primary and secondary conditions
• Collecting buddy statements from family members and friends to document symptoms
• Working with VA-accredited attorneys or representatives to pursue reopened claims or appeals

Contact a VA Disability Benefits Attorney Today

When you have medical or mental health conditions caused or aggravated by other service-connected conditions, you can obtain VA disability for those “secondary conditions.” Contact Veterans Benefits Law Group today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation with a VA disability lawyer to learn how your secondary conditions may enable you to obtain additional disability benefits.